Compartment door latch



Nov. 10, 1942. E. N. JACOB! 2,301,282

COMPARTMENT noon LATCH Filed July 19, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 10, 1942. E. N. JACOB! COMPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Filed July 1 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 10, 1942 CONEPARTMENT DOOR LATCH Edward N. Jacobi, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application July 19, 1941, Serial No. 403,122

8 Claims.

This invention relates to door latches and refers particularly to latches of the type designed for use with automobile glove compartment doors especially of the type shown in Patent No. 2,208,003, issued to E. N. Jacobi, July 16, 1940.

The latch illustrated in the aforesaid patent is of the locking type provided with a tumbler cylinder which may be locked against depression by means of a key.

Due to the additional expense of a lock cylinder, many of the less expensive automobiles do not have locking type glove compartment door latches, but obviously it is desirable to have the latch so designed that it may be used either as a looking or nonlocking type, and it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel inexpensive push button unit designed to be inter.

changeable with the tumbler cylinder of the door latch shown in the above mentioned patent.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple manner of holding the push button unit against rotation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple inexpensive manner of mounting a spring retainer in the push button unit by which the push button unit is releasably held assembled with the latch body.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a simple manner of securing the front face of the push button unit in place. 7 V p 7 With the above and other objects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds,

this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a latch embodying this invention and illustrating the same mounted on a compartment door and holding the door closed;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l, but showing the manner in which depression of the push button unit retracts the latch bolt;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the latch per se detached from the compartment door;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the push button unit removed from'the latch body;

Figure 5 is another perspective view of the push button unit illustrating the same from another angle; and

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken through Figure 1 on the plane of the line 66.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts, the numeral 5 designates the door of a glove compartment. Only the upper wall 6 of the compartment is illustrated, but as is well known, the compartment is generally located behind the instrument panel of the automobile.

Extending down from the upper wall of the compartment directly behind the door, is a striker plate 1. A latch bolt 8 carried by a latch device indicated generally by the numeral 9 engages with this striker plate to secure the compartment door closed. The latch device 9 is mounted on the door so that when the door is closed the bolt automatically engages behind the striker plate.

The latch device comprises a body Ill preferably formed as a die casting and provided with oppositely projecting attaching ears II by which it is secured to the back of the door. A bore l2 extends down into the body from its front end, and an annular outwardly projecting flange 13 on the front end of the body encircles the mouth of the bore. The cars l2 are cut away as at Hi to enable the flangeto continue past them.

In the top of the body is a longitudinal slot l5 opening to the bore and through which the latch bolt 8 projects. The sides of this slot have longitudinal grooves I6 therein closed at their inner ends near the bottom of the bore to provide shoulders against which trumiions I! on the latch bolt engage.

A retaining member [8 stamped and formed of sheet metal is secured to the body and by its novel formation holds the latch bolt assembled with the body. To this end the cylindrical front end I9 of the retaining member, which is clinched over the flange I3 to hold the same in place, has rearwardly extending parallel arms 20 which are received in the grooves IE to engage against the trunnions H and thus hold the same in place.

The front plate-like end portion l9 of the retaining member hasa flanged opening 2| in line with the bore. The flange of this opening projects forwardly into the hole 22 in the compartment door; and extending across the front end of the slot I5 is a transverse wall 23 formed as part of the retaining member. This transverse wall has a hole 24 therethrough for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The latch bolt is substantially in the form of a bell crank with the trunnions H at its apex and with its long arm protruding through the slot I5 and its short arm extending down into the bore to provide a shoulder 25 against which a push button unit, indicated generally by the numeral 26, bears to rock the latch bolt to its retracted position shown in Figure 2. A Spring 21 yieldingly urges the bolt to its operative position and thrusts the push button unit 26 forwardly in the bore to the limit of its forward motion.

Inasmuch as it is the purpose of this invention to provide a push button unit interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type compartment door latch such as shown in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,208,003, the push button unit must be of such dimensions and configuration as to fit in the bore; and also it must be considerably less expensive than a lock cylinder to warrant its use.

To this end it is formed from a blank of inexpensive sheet metal rolled into a tube 28 of a size to snugly fit the bore 12. At its rear end this tube has an inturned lip 29 which provides a surface to bear against the shoulder 25 of the latch bolt. Obviously this shoulder engaging surface must be retained in alignment with the shoulder 25 or it must extend across the entire diameter of the tube, but inasmuch as the bottom of the bore l2, due to the locking requirements, is stepped so that it forms a chord-like obstruction 30 in the bottom of the bore, the rear end of the tube may not be uni-planar but must be formed to accommodate this obstruction and the tube must be held against turning.

To this end part of the tube opposite the lip 29 is cut away to accommodate the obstruction 30 and form two opposite longitudinal edges 3|. These edges are so positioned as to be slidable across the ledge 32 provided by the top of the obstruction 30. In this manner the tube is held against rotation and the lip 29 maintained in proper relationship to the shoulder 25.

To retain the push button unit in the bore, the tube 28 carries a spring retainer 33. This spring retainer consists of a wire spring 'ring positioned inside the tube and having 'a looped portion 34 near one of its ends protruding through a hole 35 in the tube.

'The diametrically opposite portion of the spring ring is confined between two shoulders formed by inwardly directed darts or indentations 35 at the opposite sides of a hole 31 similar to the hole 35. The hole 31 is preferably formed by tWo notches in the edges of the blank which is rolled up to form the tube.

In assembling the spring ring with the tube, the ring is first pushed down into the tube until its loop engages in the hole 35 and then the opposite part of the ring is pushed along the tube until it snaps in between the darts in a position square with the axis of the tube.

The protruding loop 34 is engageable with the back of the front Wall IQ of the retaining member to define the forward limit of motion of the push button unit and to releasably hold the same in the bore. In this position the loop is directly under. the hole 24 in the transverse wall 23 so that by inserting a piece of wire or other suitable tool into the hole 24 the loop 34 may be depressed to enable withdrawal of the push button unit.

Attention is directed to the fact that the engagement of the loop 34 with the underside of the transverse wall as best shown in Figure 6 cooperates with the spring 21 to hold the push button unit against rattling, for in so doing it presses the push button unit down against the opposite side of the bore in the body.

The front end of the push button unit, which protrudes from the door, has a neatly finished cap 38 applied thereto on which the word Push is delineated. This cap has a cylindrical wall portion 39 telescoped over the front end of the tube 28 and is held against displacement by indentations 40 in the edge of this cylindrical wall portion which project into adjacent diametrically opposite holes 4| in the wall of the tube 28. In this manner the cap is held against dislodgement orrotation, and as the tube is held against turning in the manner described, the word Push delineated on the cap is at all times in its proper readable position.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that this invention provides an exceedingly simple and inexpensive push button unit for use with compartment door latches either to replace lock cylinders or to initially equip the latch with a nonlocking push button which may be later replaced, at the customers option, by a lock cylinder.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a push button unit to be interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type glove compartment door latch comprising: a tube of relatively light sheet metal open at one end and having its opposite end partially closed to form a latch engaging surface, said tube having an opening in its wall; a spring member confined within the tube and having a part projecting through said opening to provide a depressible stop cooperable with a shoulder on the body of the latch; and a cap closing the open end of the tube, said cap providing an unbroken push button surface.

2. As an article of manufacture, a push button unit of such dimensions and configuration as to be interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type glove compartment door latch comprising: a sheet metal tube having diametrically opposite openings through its wall, the edges of one of said openings being pressed inwardly to define two shoulders spaced endwise with relation to the tube; a spring wire ring within the cylinder with a portion thereof disposed between said shoulders; an outwardly formed loop on the spring ring protruding through the opposite opening to provide a depressible stop engageable with a shoulder on the body of the latch; and a cap fitted over the front end of the tube to provide a push button surface.

3. As an article of manufacture, a push button unit of such dimensions and configuration as to be interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type glove compartment door latch comprising: a tube having diametrically opposite openings through its wall, the edges of one of said openings being pressed inwardly to define two shoulders spaced endwise with relation to the tube; a spring wire ring within the cylinder with a portion thereof disposed between said shoulders;

an outwardly formed loop on the spring ring protruding through the opposite opening to provide a. depressible stop engageable with a shoulder on the body of the latch; the rear'end portion of said tube having a chord-like portion cutaway to define two opposite longitudinal edges 'for sliding engagement with ledges in the bore of the latch body to hold the tube against rotation; and

a cap fitted over the front end of the tube providing a push button surface.

4. As an article of manufacture, a push button unit of such dimensions and configuration as to be interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type glove, compartment door latch comprising: a tube having diametrically opposite openings through its wall, the edges of one of said openings being pressed inwardly to define two shoulders spaced endwise with relation to the tube; a spring wire ring within the tube with a portion thereof disposed between said shoulders; an outwardly formed loop on the spring ring protruding through the opposite opening to provide a depressible stop engageable with a shoulder on the body of the latch; the rear end portion of said tube having a chord-like portion cut away to define two opposite longitudinal edges for sliding engagement with ledges in the bore of the latch body to hold the tube against rotation; an

inturned lip on the rear end of the tube directed I toward said two spaced longitudinal edges to provide a surface engageable with the bolt of the latch; and a cap fitted over the front end of the tube to provide an unbroken push button surface.

5. As an article of manufacture, a push button unit of such dimensions and configuration as to be interchangeable with the tumbler cylinder of a locking type glove compartment door latch comprising: a tube formed of sheet metal; a

spring retainer. inside the tube and having a depressible portion protruding therefrom for engagement with a shoulder on the body of the latch to releasably hold the tube in the body; a

cap fitted over the front end of the tube to close the same and provide a push button surface, said cap having a cylindrical wall telescoped over the front end of the tube, the tube having openings in its wall adjacent to the edge of the cylindrical wall of the cap; and indentations in the edge portion of the cylindrical wall of the cap pressed into said openings to hold the cap in place.

6. In a latch of the character described: a supporting body having a bore; a latch bolt pivoted in the body at the inner end of the bore and biased to a position projecting a part thereof through an opening in the side wall of the bore; a shoulder on the latch bolt inside the bore so positioned that pressure applied thereon in a direction toward the bottom of the bore retracts the latch bolt, said bottom of the bore being stepped so that the full diameter of the bore does not extend to the extreme bottom thereof, and said step in the bottom of the bore forming a ledge having portions adjacent to I the wall of the bore parallel with the axis of the bore; a push button unit slidable in the bore to retract the latch bolt upon the application of inward endwise pressure thereon, said push button unit comprising a tube having its rear end portion partially cut away to define two opposite longitudinal edges slidable on said ledge portions at the bottom of the bore to hold the push button unit against turning; an inturned lip on the rear end of the tube providing a surface engageable with the shoulder on the latch bolt; a spring retainer inside the tube and having a part protruding through an opening therein; and a shoulder on the latch body engageable by said portionlof the spring retainer to hold the push button unit having a bore; a latch bolt pivoted in the body adjacent to the bottom of the bore and biased to a position projecting a part thereof through an opening in the wall of the bore; a shoulder on the latch bolt inside the bore so positioned that pressure applied thereon in a direction toward the bottom of the bore retracts the latch bolt,

said bottom of the bore being stepped so that the 7 full diameter of the bore does not extend to the extreme bottom thereof, and said step in the bottom of the bore forming a ledge having portions adjacent to the wall of the bore parallel with the axis of the bore; a push button unit slidable in the bore to retract the latch bolt upon the application of inward endwise pressure thereon, said push button unit comprising a tube having its rear end portion partially cut away to define two opposite longitudinal edges slidable on said ledge portions at the bottom of the bore to hold the push button unit against turning; an inturned lip on the rear end of the push button unit providing a surface engageable with the shoulder on the latch bolt; 2. spring wire loop inside the tube having an outward projection protruding through a hole in the wall of the tube; and a retaining shoulder carried by the body and having a rearwardly disposed wall so positioned as to be engaged by the protruding portion of the spring retainer whereby said push button unit is held in the bore and the tension of the spring retainer pressing against said rearwardly disposed Wall holds the push button unit against one side of the bore to prevent rattling.

8. In a latch of the character described: a body having a bore and an outwardly protruding substantially annular flange encircling the mouth of the bore, said body also having a longitudinal slot through the wall of the bore, the side walls of said slot having longitudinal grooves closed at the rear end of the body adjacent to the bottom of the bore; a latch bolt having trunnions received in said grooves; a spring acting on the latch bolt to project the same through the slot while a portion thereof is disposed within the bore and urged toward the front end thereof; a retaining member stamped from sheet metal and having a substantially circular front end portion overlying and engaged over the annular flange to secure the same to the body, said front end portion having a hole in line with the bore, arms projecting rearwardly from the front wall of the retaining member along and inside said grooves with the ends thereof bearing against the trunnions of the latch bolt to hold the bolt in place, said retaining member having a rearwardly extending transverse wall across the front end of the slot, said wall having a hole therethrough; a push button unit slidable in the bore with its front end protruding through the hole in the front end portion of the retaining member; and a spring retainer carried by the push button unit and engaging the rear face of said front end portion of the retaining member adjacent to its hole to retain the push button unit in the bore, said spring retainer in the normal position of the push button unit engaging against the underside of the transverse wall on the retaining member so that the spring tension of the retainer holds the push button unit against rattling while the alignment of the spring retainer with said hole in the transverse wall enables depression of the retainer to free the push button unit for withdrawal.

EDWARD N. JACOBI. 

